Independent 10765 / Hoskins

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It’s Hoskins this Wednesday.  Regular solvers will know what to expect from Hoskins and he delivers his usual signature stuff.

 

 

 

I may be missing something about the clue for STONEHENGE at 10 across as it just looks like a fairly simple cryptic definition to me.

I have come across the poet RILKE (6 down) before, but only in crosswords.

The parsing of most clues was fairly clear.

No Detail
Across  
6

One turning in abandoned terrier (7) 

RETIRER (one going to bed to sleep; one turning in)

Anagram of (abandoned) TERRIER

RETIRER*
7

Electric current inside one cooking main (5) 

CHIEF (principal; main)

I (symbol for electric current) contained in (inside) CHEF (one cooking)

CH (I) EF
9

Leaders to allow lascivious Brits into French commune (4)

ALBI (commune in Southern France)

ALBI (first letters of [leaders to] ALLOW, LASCIVIOUS, BRITS and INTO)

ALBI
10

World-famous rock group from the South West? (10) 

STONEHENGE (prehistoric ruin in South England, in Wiltshire on Salisbury Plain: constructed over the period of roughly 3000–1600 bc; one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe; believed to have had religious and astronomical purposes; world-famous rock group)  Is Wiltshire, in South West England.  Am I missing something in relation to West?

STONE (rock) + HENGE (circular or oval area enclosed by a bank and internal ditch, often containing burial chambers, or a circular, oval or horseshoe-shaped construction of large upright stones or wooden posts; group [of rocks])
 
STONE HENGE
11

Take a break, with opportunity to get cottage in US (8)

RESTROOM (ROOM in a building other than a private house with adjoining lavatories, etc; COTTAGE is slang for a public lavatory in America)

REST (take a break) + ROOM (opportunity, scope or occasion)

REST ROOM
13

One spotted punching peaceful group and small boxers? (6)

UNDIES (underpants [BOXERS are a form of underpants])

DIE (a DIE has many spots) contained in (punching) (UN [United Nations; a group focused on ensuring peace in the world] + S [small])

UN (DIE) S
15

Drinking last of ale, Hoskins had a thought! (4)

IDEA (thought)

(I’D [I had; Hoskins {the setter} had] + A) containing (drinking) E (final letter of [last of] ALE)

ID (E) A
17

I flog hot items from a wooden enclosure, perhaps (5) 

FENCE (receiver of stolen goods who then sells them on)

FENCE (part of [from] a wooden enclosure)  double definition

FENCE
18

Load of work? That’s no good! (4) 

RAFT (large number; heap; load of)

GRAFT (hard work) excluding (no) G (good)

RAFT
19

Egotistical Republican leaders must be pushed into river by a Brownie? (6) 

CAMERA (a Brownie was a simple, early, mass-produced make of box CAMERA)

ER (first letters of [leaders of] EGOTISTICAL REPUBLICAN) contained in (pushed into) (CAM [river in England] + A)

CAM (ER) A
20

You might see them atop a house with hand in knickers (8) 

PANTILES (roofing tiles whose cross-section forms an ogee curve; you might see them atop a house)

L (left [hand] contained in [in] PANTIES [knickers])

PANTI (L) ES
23

Actor and medic slammed by The People (10)

DEMOCRATIC (relating to the government by the people)

Anagram of (slammed) ACTOR and MEDIC

DEMOCRATIC*
26

Drugs that man from Bow smuggled inside flipping kid (4) 

GEAR (illicit drugs)

‘E (Cockney [Bow] term describing a man [he]) contained in (smuggled inside) RAG (tease; kid) reversed (flipping)

G (E) AR<
27

Mug? One can be seen in ultimately crass PM’s address! (5)

STEIN (large beer mug)

I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (in) (S [last letter of [ultimately] CRASS + TEN {The UK Prime Ministe’rs address is TEN Downing Street)

S TE (I) N
28

One that smokes has bit of tobacco on red jumper (7) 

CHEROOT (cigar cut square at either end; one that smokes)

CHE (reference CHE Guevara [1928-1967], marxist [red] revolutionary and politician) + ROO (kanagroo; jumper) + T (first letter of [bit of] TOBACCO)

CHE ROO T
Down  
1

An increasingly bare display a priest set out (10)

STRIPTEASE (an act of undressing slowly and seductively, especially as entertainment)

Anagram of (out) A PRIEST SET

STRIPTEASE*
2

Get up, taking E with half-cut Toff and one of her pals? (6)

ARISTO (ARISTOcrat [member of a privileged class], a likely friend of a toff)

ARISE (get up) excluding (taking) E + TO (2 of 4 letters [half-cut] of TOFF)

ARIS TO
3

Right around lunchtime, love to have a threesome (4)

TRIO (threesome)

RT (right) reversed (around) + I (representing one o’clock; lunchtime) + O (character representing zero)

TR< I O
4

She’d clue ‘pants’ as something a secretary might have a hand in! (8)

SCHEDULE (plan or programme; something that a secretary might help to prepare)

Anagram of (pants) SHE’D CLUE

SCHEDULE*
5

Perfectly acceptable penalty (4) 

FINE (perfectly acceptable)

FINE (penalty) double definition

FINE
6

Sort to be grabbed by heartless referee or linesman (5) 

RILKE (reference Rainer Maria RILKE [1875-1926], Austrian poet)

ILK (type; kind; sort) contained in (to be grabbed by) REFEREE excluding the central letters EFERE [(heartless)

R (ILK) E
8

Piece of foliage covering up twig and berries? (3,4)

FIG LEAF (foliage)

FIG LEAF (tree; a representation of such a leaf for veiling the genitals [twig and berries?] of a [male] statue or picture)  double definition  TWIG AND BERRIES is defined in Wiktionary and the Urban Dictionary and probably in others too, but it’s not in Chambers or Collins.

FIG LEAF
12

Grow a pair of primarily nice-scented Umbellularia in plot (3,2)

MAN UP (accept responsibility in the manner of a mature person; GROW A PAIR is another phrase defined in full in the Urban Dictionary)

NU (first letters [primarily] of each of NICE-SCENTED and UMBELLULARIA) contained in (in) MAP (plot)

MA (N U) P
14

Do over grand lot in northern industrial town (10) 

DARLINGTON (industrial town in northern England)

Anagram of (do over) GRAND LOT IN

DARLINGTON*
16

Thirteen artists with lead in their pencils? (7) 

DRAWERS (underpants [UNDIES – entry at 13 down])

DRAWERS (artists who use lead pencils)

DRAWERS
17

Sweet-smelling fish brought up during loud storm (8) 

FRAGRANT(sweet-scented)

GAR (pike-like fish) reversed (brought up; down entry) contained in (during) (F [forte; loud] + RANT [storm with great anger])

F (RAG<) RANT
21

Steal train to make a bit of cash abroad (6) 

NICKEL (five-cent piece in American currency)

NICK (steal) + EL (informal American term for an elevated railroad)

NICK EL
22

Some sex actually is spot on (5) 

EXACT (precise; spot on)

EXACT (hidden word in [some] SEX ACTUALLY)

EXACT
24

Too much port gets daughter going! (4) 

OVER (in excess of; too much)

DOVER (port town on the South coast of England) excluding (going) D (daughter)

OVER
25

Conservative leader’s rubbish without diplomatic skill (4)

TACT (adroitness in managing the feelings of persons dealt with; diplomatic skill)

TAT (rubbish) containing (without; outside) C (first letter of [leader] CONSERVATIVE)

TA (C) T

20 comments on “Independent 10765 / Hoskins”

  1. I also thought the “West” in 10a was a bit odd.

    Also a little odd is that your clue for 19a differs from mine. My printout has “Egotistical Republican leaders” not “Her Maj”. Maybe, due to recent events, whimsical use of Her Maj was deemed inappropriate and the clue was altered accordingly.

  2. Hovis @ 1

    Thanks for pointing out the update to the clue at 19 across. Bloggers get the Indie crosswords for the following week on the Friday of the week before and I didn’t check to see whether any clues had changed during the intervening days.

    I have updated the blog to reflect the published version of the clue at 19 across.

  3. Normally I enjoy Hoskins’ puzzles immensely but I don’t think this was one of his best. It lacked for me the usual zip which normally complements his vulgarity nicely.

    11a used one (indicated) US expression to define another (unindicated) one. 4d is a decidedly obscure poet (to me at least); and, although 16d didn’t bother me, I thought that the convention was only to express references to other clues in numbers not words. I’ve never heard of “twig and berries”, and I too was puzzled by the “West” in 10a.

    Thanks to Hoskins and to Duncan.

  5. I’m not sure what the quorum is for a theme – three underwear related answers in UNDIES, DRAWERS and PANTI(L)ES, a reference to ‘pants’ in 4d and I wonder if FIG LEAF qualifies as the first example of the class?

    Like our blogger, I’ve encountered RILKE in crosswords and I rarely spot the ILK element so, today, it was satisfying to follow the instructions and arrive at the solution. ‘Twig and berries’ passed way over my head but it could only be the answer it was. MAN UP is certainly a phrase I’ve encountered and CAMERA is delightful with the Brownie misdirection.

    Thanks Hoskins and duncan

  6. Hovis @ 4

    Oops! – done

    To quote from the endgame of another recent blog – bad things come in threes – so I may yet have another error somewhere in the blog.

  7. Unlike Rabbit Dave @3, I thought this was Hoskins at his ribald best. However, although I correctly answered them all, there were eight for which I needed to check here that I had got the parsing right. Very enjoyable, so thanks Hoskins and Duncan.

  8. I just assumed ‘from the South West?’ in 10a referred to the theory that the stones came from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire.

  10. I enjoyed this, even though I hate the expression MAN UP. It’s good to see a crossword with both the sublime (RILKE) and the ridiculous FIG LEAF. I think for 11 ac RESTROOM is the US term and cottage a more general slang as in “cottaging”.

  11. That was a merry romp. The only one I couldn’t parse was my LOI, NICKEL, not having heard of the elevated railroad, although the crossers made the solution obvious.
    I enjoyed the slightly smutty answers (especially FIG LEAF) which I entered while imagining the rasping laugh of Sid James.

  12. All good fun, but probably not one I’ll use as a training aid for my 91 year-old mother! She’s enjoyed a Hoskins recently, being ok with a bit of rudery, but the twig and berries and grow a pair might be a bit ott for her. Didn’t parse a couple, so thanks to Hoskins and to Duncanshiell.

  13. I agree with Petert @10. I’ve only heard ‘cottage’ (as a verb) used in this country, in reference to what is in the US called a RESTROOM .

  14. Well, always some new slang to learn from Hoskins! My only knowledge is of ‘cottaging’ – didn’t realise the word from which it derives is also used to describe a gents’ loo – makes perfect sense though.
    Rather liked the ‘twig and berries’ – a guess on my part but it did make me laugh.

    Thanks to Hoskins for the ‘education’ and to Duncan for the review.

  15. enjoyed this a lot.. clear clues with plenty of misdirection is a great commbination to keep u thinking throughout.. as PeterT@10 n Ian SW3@13 re “cottage”.. if ur from the NE of England Wiltshire feels quite SW… notwithstanding the extraordinary journey the stone had to make to get to the site as suggested by Blorenge@8.. tbh Pembrokeshire is only SW in Wales… Cornwall n Devon would take that tag everytime..
    thanks Hoskins n Duncansheill

  16. Undrell @15, I know what you mean, but Pembrokeshire is surely in Britain’s South West.

    At any rate, if Hoskins was indicating Wiltshire, I’d expect ‘in’ rather than ‘from’.

  17. Regarding STONEHENGE, s far as South West Rail is concerned I’d think anything west of the M3 counts as South West – I just considered it a quite amusing cryptic def.

    I did feel there was enough of an undies undercurrent here to count as a ghost theme, while several other sniggers (1,3,4,8,9,22) definitely added to the entertainment.

    Agreed with the “cottage in UK, restroom in US” verdict.

    My one little quibble was the ‘bit of tobacco’ indicating T in CHEROOT which is a device I feel should be highly regulated, if not banned.

    Much fun, thank you to Hoskins and to duncanshiell.

  18. jvector @17: how nice to find one other commenter to pick up on the suggestion of a theme which clearly didn’t appeal to others. ‘An undies undercurrent’ – lovely. There’s probably a Gulf Stream pun in there but I’m too tired to think of one!

  19. On “cottage”, Chambers gives specifically: “A public lavatory used by homosexuals for soliciting”. I don’t think the word “restroom” is used in that way in the US.

  20. COTTAGE unknown in any restroom-related sense here in the US–just confirming what others have surmised from its existence as a UK slang term.

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